Michelle Rodriguez
|image = |birthplace = , |birth date = July 12, 1978 |occupation = Actress, screenwriter |firstworks = |activeyears = 2000-Present |notableworks = , |ffcharacter = Letty Ortiz |fffilms = , , , , , , }} Mayte Michelle Rodríguez, is an American actress of the . She portrays Leticia Ortiz in The Fast and the Furious franchise. Biography Rodriguez was born in San Antonio, Texas. Her mother, Carmen Milady Rodriguez (born Pared Espinal), is a native of the Dominican Republic, and her father, Rafael Rodriguez, was a Puerto Rican who served in the U.S. Army. She has a total of ten siblings and half-siblings. She was partly raised by her devoutly religious maternal grandmother and was brought up as one of (her mother's religion), though she has since abandoned that faith. Rodriguez moved to the Dominican Republic with her mother when she was eight and lived in until the age of eleven, later settling in . She dropped out of but later earned her ; in total she was expelled from five schools. Rodriguez briefly attended business school before quitting to pursue a career in acting, with the ultimate goal of becoming a writer and director. Having run across an ad for an open casting call and attending her first audition, Rodriguez beat 350 other applicants to win her first role in the low-budget 2000 , . With her performance as Diana Guzman, a troubled teen who decides to channel her aggression by training to become a , Rodriguez accumulated several awards and nominations for the role in independent circles, including major acting accolades from the , , , , , and many others. The film itself took home a top prize at the and won Award of the Youth at the . Subsequently, she has had notable roles in other successful movies, including , , , and . In 2004, Rodriguez lent her voice to the video game , playing a . She also provided the voice of Liz Ricarro in the series . From 2005 to 2006, she played tough cop on the television series during the show's second season (the character's first appearance was a flashback on season 1's finale, " "), and returned for a cameo in the second episode of the show's fifth season " " in 2009 and again in the penultimate episode of the series in 2010. In 2006, Rodriguez was featured in her own episode of show . In 2008, she appeared in alongside . Rodriguez next appeared in the fourth installment of the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise, which was titled simply and released to theaters on April 3, 2009. Rodriguez starred in 's high-budget sci-fi adventure film , which was released to theaters on December 18, 2009. The film became the and Rodriguez's most successful film to date. She filmed , an independent film based on the Dominican Republic's historic who were assassinated in 1960 by the Dominican dictator Trujillo for opposing his rule, the same year. In 2010, Rodriguez appeared in 's , which also co-starred , and . The film was opened to mostly positive reviews and earned $44 million in the box-office on a $10 million budget. In 2011, she appeared with in the science fiction film which grossed over $200 million in the worldwide box office, becoming a blockbuster success. As of 20 July 2010, Rodriguez's films have grossed $1,272,734,719 in the and $3,686,521,043 worldwide. References Category:Actors